Reclusive shipwreck salvager Tommy Thompson did not show up at a court hearing today and a
federal judge has ordered his arrest.

Thompson had been told to appear in front of U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. to respond
to contempt charges.

Thompson’s attorney said he was “out to sea” and did not know about the hearing.

The former Battelle scientist headed an expedition in the late 1980s to find the SS Central
America, a steamer that sunk along the East Coast in 1857 with tons of gold in its hold.

Thompson and his company, Columbus America Discovery Group, brought up part of the treasure,
showed it off in museums and in the media, and then were engulfed in lawsuits over its ownership.

Thompson eventually moved to Vero Beach, Fla., to live with his mother and, according to
investors, to try to recover the rest of the treasure.

The charges are part of a six-year lawsuit filed by seamen who worked for Thompson in the
late 1980s. They claim that they were entitled to a small percentage of the treasure found under
their contract with Thompson.

Thompson has never appeared in federal court in connection with the lawsuit. He has sent
several attorneys instead.

But last week Sargus ordered him to appear today or be arrested after the judge found that
Thompson was not providing the court with requested information.

Sargus issued a temporary restraining order against Thompson in July, ordering him not to
sell 500 gold coins and to tell the court the whereabouts of the coins and money he’d received from
a Columbus Exploration trust.

In a declaration to the court, Thompson said the trust money was long gone and the coins had
been placed in a trust in Belize.